Unless you have had your fill of pedestrian and relentless films about zombies, Escape to the Cove is yet another (as if we need one) investor-safe delivery that appropriates the current virus madness.
Calling the walking dead ‘wanderers’ feels like some unnecessary politically correct term or perhaps the producers are rightfully embarrassed about making just another z-movie on top of the body pit of already redundant ‘wanderer’ films.
Escape to the Cove is about a ravaged world after a pandemic, wherein the infected have turned into roaming cannibals. The rest of the surviving population is subjected to pirates and marauders while trying to cope with an inevitable famine. A meek hipster, Cairo Yazid (Garrett Barghash), is forced to beg curmudgeon Capt. Benjamin Solomon (Robert Enriquez) to tolerate him, as he would not survive without the former police captain’s skills and protection. Solomon agrees reluctantly as he plans to journey to the secret safe place known as The Cove to be reunited with his daughter.
Careless lack of character establishment in the first part of the film leaves you confused and removes all cordiality the audience needs to relate to the characters. The acting does nothing to redeem the latter either. Don’t let the fleeting cameo of Eric Roberts convince you that Escape to the Cove is in any way a B-movie gem. Besides a dreadfully unlikable protagonist in Cairo Yazid, the story is like a familiar raft, afloat on the open sea – aimless and going nowhere. Most of the character interaction is not explained and you find yourself guessing where the relationships originated.
Escape to the Cove is a cautionary tale about conduct towards others during a crisis; that even the undead are not as callous as regular humans. The problem is that the monsters and antagonists are about as intimidating as a pretzel, even if villain Luther Kurtzman (Mike Markoff) makes an honest effort at getting his psycho on with such a weak script. He effectively overacts so diligently that it is just about the only exciting thing in the film, except for luminescent water-zombies. Don’t ask.
What the film projects efficiently through Cairo, though, is how inept the social media culture would be in a post-apocalyptic environment, but with the absence of apprehension or scares, Escape to the Cove inflicts its own injuries on its abilities and mars its own messages.
The film’s score and lighting is decent, featuring mainly marina settings and solid cinematography, so you will not feel as if you are watching the worst of productions. Writer and director Robert Enriquez does well as father figure Solomon, proving that his acting is better than his writing, for sure, but you just cannot care about him enough.
Unfortunately, the entire film runs on empty, feeling void of many opportunities for action, frights and witty comebacks in order to revive its unbearably lackluster characters.Escape to the Cove is a sincere effort, but regrettably cast its line in overly familiar, redundant waters.
-Tasha Danzig
